Failing SG9665GC V2?

[Dashmellow]

I've been meaning for some time to report on my ongoing SG9665GC problems that I first posted about to this thread eight months ago all the way back in November.

Miraculously, reflashing the firmware apparently fixed the various weird problems I've had with the camera. After a few weeks without any spontaneous re-booting or odd imaging issues I was going to report about it here but at that point I decided to give it a full month and see what happened but I got a bit lazy and also rather busy so I didn't get around to it right away. Then, about two weeks ago I was driving along and the camera suddenly re-booted again out of nowhere. Since then, I've done nothing new to troubleshoot the camera and everything has been working OK. It's not the memory card because I've replaced it several times during this lengthy saga so I can only assume there is some sort of hardware glitch that slowly begins to corrupt the firmware. It will be interesting to see if and when it happens again.

So, I guess it's time for a new camera, especially since this one has had some some sort of IQ and left side focus issue where the imagery doesn't seem as sharp as it was when the cam was new. I suspect it's just because the camera is aging and it's been through a lot what with the constant summer, winter temperature extremes this one has been through. On the whole I guess I can't complain as next to my Mobius cams the GC has been the most reliable dash camera I've owned up until it started acting up nine months ago.

 

[kamkar]

I had a issue on the GCX2 after a few month, but re-flashing that permanently fixed the issue.
It is strange a camera can paint itself into a corner like that.

 

[Dashmellow]

Once again you have nothing to say regarding my nine months of reporting ongoing problems with my SG9665GC @jokin. Usually, you and @Street Guardian USA are all over threads like this doing your tag team support routine. It's discouraging considering the numerous other threads describing essentially the same issues especially the spontaneous rebooting.

 

[jokiin]

So, I guess it's time for a new camera, especially since this one has had some some sort of IQ and left side focus issue where the imagery doesn't seem as sharp as it was when the cam was new. I suspect it's just because the camera is aging and it's been through a lot what with the constant summer, winter temperature extremes this one has been through. On the whole I guess I can't complain as next to my Mobius cams the GC has been the most reliable dash camera I've owned up until it started acting up nine months ago.

this lead me to believe you had made some sort of decision, did I miss something?

 

[Dashmellow]

this lead me to believe you had made some sort of decision, did I miss something?

Well, after reviewing many of the very similar and in some cases nearly identical threads about the problems I've been reporting for here for literally nine months now I've been thinking about the way you and Jon have approached customer support here. I have much to say on the subject but I need to go offline for the evening so I'll have to follow up another time.

 

[jokiin]

you've done all the troubleshooting, we've offered help multiple times, just like we offer any customer, other customers have taken the help offered, not sure why you think you're treated any differently to anyone else

 

[Street Guardian USA]

So, I guess it's time for a new camera,

I didn’t add anything to your last reply because you made it sound like you were now ready to replace/upgrade. (And exhausted all troubleshooting).

We gave you $50-$60 discount off your original Street Guardian SG9665GC order 4 years ago if I recall and we even sent you the next generation SG9665GC free at no charge after that. (From memory) We provided ongoing support and replacements well past the 1 year warranty. It has to be nearly 5 years now.

I’d like to think we’ve gone above and behind for you over the years as an active member.

 

[Dashmellow]

Amazing timing!

Just now, within the last hour on my way home my GC manifested a new behavior. It suddenly started spontaneously re-booting over and over and over. This occurred about every four or five seconds, except occasionally it would happen about every ten seconds. The camera was operating off my new TQKA power bank at the time but I was able to switch to my truck's 12V system and USB charger as a quicky trouble shooting effort while driving but this made no difference. So, after nine months of reporting to this thread I guess I can finally remove the question mark from the title.

 

[Dashmellow]

you've done all the troubleshooting, we've offered help multiple times, just like we offer any customer, other customers have taken the help offered, not sure why you think you're treated any differently to anyone else

You suggested various troubleshooting ideas and many hoops to jump through that have sent me down rabbit holes and blind alleyways such as dismantling the camera.

Last November here in this thread you made the offer: “See how you go, if something needs sorting beyond what you can work out just let us know.” But over the last nine months of reporting continued and evolving problems you've made no offer of actual assistance and several times have not even responded to my posts. The whole thing felt rather insincere if you must know and that sentiment has proved correct. So much for “letting us know”.

Granted, I thought I had fixed it several times but in the end the camera has indeed failed.

The fact is that there has been no other thread on this forum where someone reported a set of problems like this where you and Jon have not offered “some” sort of resolution after a basic round of troubleshooting. Here we are almost ten months after first reporting these issues and you sound put out about the whole thing.

I can't help but notice that numerous other people with V1, V2 and even a couple of V3 owners have been reporting this boot looping issue and other related issues and in each and every case, after a modest period of trouble shooting you and or Jon or Niko offer a discounted upgrade path to a new camera.

I'm not looking for any handout from you Ric but I don't care to be blown off either.

I mean, I get it. We are not friends. We are barely frenemies. There are various reasons for the friction between us and I have much to say about my Street Guardian experiences and observations but that will have to wait until I have time to explore these things in detail. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to publish an “open letter” to the community about it all? I need to think about what I want to say but I''ll follow up.

 

[jokiin]

sounds power related, does it reboot if no memory card installed?

 

[Dashmellow]

I didn’t add anything to your last reply because you made it sound like you were now ready to replace/upgrade. (And exhausted all troubleshooting).

We gave you $50-$60 discount offer your original Street Guardian SG9665GC order 4 years ago if I recall and we even sent you the next generation SG9665GC free at no charge after that. (From memory)

I’d like to think we’ve gone above and behind for you over the years as an active member.

I was delighted when you offered me a discount on the V1 camera. Who wouldn't be? But you seem to have conveniently left out a few very salient details about what went down here.

Based on your post here I guess I should remind you that I was shipped four defective SG9665GC units before I got the fifth one I've been using since that time.

When I received my initial V1 camera it had some serious issues. The focus was off and at the time you said it was a "rare one-off". Except that since that time there have been dozens reports about out-of-focus problems with the SG9665GC series.

I also I reported what I felt was a serious issue involving a dynamic range/high contrast exposure problem. Then, various other members started reporting the same thing! That was a problem both you and Ric never really admitted to exist but after a ridiculous ten month saga new firmware was finally released that fixed the issue. Still, at the end neither of you ever formally acknowledged that the problem existed in the first place. At this point I plan on doing a full write up of my experiences with Street Guardian but for anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about with the dynamic range/high contrast exposure problem please have a look at the first page of the following thread.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...c-range-flaw-and-other-discouragements.17797/

So, you graciously sent me a V2 because that was the newest, just released production run to replace the defective V1 and it was much appreciated. Now you are making the misleading claim that it was “free of charge”. It was to replace a defective camera! The V1 sits in a drawer unused because, despite using it for some experimentation, it is in fact useless and has manifested other problems as well, so it lives in a dark drawer in the closet.

Then the V2 unit you sent me failed and was returned as well. Amazingly the third unit you sent had issues too and was returned to you because it went WAY out of focus.

Amazingly, the fourth camera was DOA! After only a few hours in service it failed completely and would only show a blank green screen or static.

I've always appreciated your friendly attitude and great customer service as well as your generosity but please don't act like I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth.


Various examples from the (four) different defective SG9665GC units I received before the fifth one discussed in this thread.










SG9665GC


Mobius

 

[Dashmellow]

sounds power related, does it reboot if no memory card installed?

Thanks, but I'm all done troubleshooting this camera.

 

[Dashmellow]

Well, curiosity got the best of me so I guess I wasn't done troubleshooting the camera after all.

I had a little spare time today so I tried a few things just to see what would happen.

Firstly, I discovered numerous corrupted, unplayable files going back several days before the boot looping even started, so something was obviously brewing but the camera gave no indication.

The camera re-boots every few seconds with or without a memory card installed.

Three different power supplies and different cables made no difference.

The re-set button does nothing.

Finally, I tried to re-flash the firmware. The update process begins but a few seconds into it the camera re-boots and the firmware update process starts over again....and again...and again.

I tried to get into the menu to see if I could access any of the settings or reformat the memory card in the camera but the boot looping won't let you get too far if you can access the menu at all. Most of the time the buttons don't work or beep.

I finally threw the towel in.

So, the camera is indeed shot and has met its ignominious end after 10 months of hassling with it.

I'm glad this unpleasant saga is finally over, frankly.

 

[jokiin]

you can still send it back to us, the offer of help was never retracted

 

[Dashmellow]

you can still send it back to us, the offer of help was never retracted

I appreciate the offer but what exactly would returning this three + year old camera to you accomplish?

 

[kamkar]

Removed. premature posting.

 

[Dashmellow]

I think there could be a little to learn, even if the internals are not in play anymore ( as far as i know )
The ENG people should be able to learn something from the left overs, just like after a airplane crash.
And some things i recon you can pass on to newer products where you still have a chance to repeat a old mistake.
Also sure SG would send a shipping label if need be.

Seems like a waste of time and resources for a manufacturer to analyze a failed out of date camera. And from comments we've heard from Jokiin, he is already well acquainted with the issue.

What gets me is the arc of this failure. It started ten months ago with weird imaging issues that seemed like a sensor or ribbon cable problem but that went away and new issues arose, like not shutting down right away after power was cut.

 

[Harsh]

so something was obviously brewing but the camera gave no indication.

I know the chipset doesn't support beeps but it's still a serious flaw. Been using mine again for the past two weeks and didn't get any indication when the 128GB EVO crapped out. I do have a backup (A119) but still would have been nice to know something had gone wrong.

 

[jokiin]

What gets me is the arc of this failure. It started ten months ago with weird imaging issues that seemed like a sensor or ribbon cable problem but that went away and new issues arose, like not shutting down right away after power was cut.

yeah it's an unusual problem which is exactly why we would want to look at it, sure it's well used, and in conditions they're not often used in by most users, but that's the type of testing you can't easily emulate so seeing what has failed and why helps us to improve the products, granted it's an old model and a lot of improvements have already been made, doesn't mean there aren't still things to learn by analyzing a long term use failed product

that's what's in it for us, for yourself you can get back a working camera, doesn't seem like that bad of a deal I think

Edit: spelling

 

[Dashmellow]

yeah it's an unusual problem which is exactly why we would want to look at it, sure it's well used, and in conditions they're not often used in by most users, but that's the type of testing you can easily emulate so seeing what has failed and why helps us to improve the products, granted it's an old model and a lot of improvements have already been made, doesn't mean there aren't still things to learn by analyzing a long term use failed product

that's what's in it for us, for yourself you can get back a working camera, doesn't seem like that bad of a deal I think

I appreciate the gesture and your interest in examining the device but at this point I just want to put this all behind me and move onto something new.

Also, like I mentioned yesterday, in numerous other instances where a member reports issues like this, especially the boot looping problem with a V1, V2 or even V3 as far as I know, a discount towards an upgrade is offered. I can post the links to all the posts from Jon about that if you like. At this point though, I wouldn't accept it even if offered. I wouldn't want Jon to rub my nose in an offered discount years from now like he did two days ago here in this thread.